how much milk to feed a baby goathow much milk to feed a baby goat

Just wondering Oh, the kids are 50% Nigerian 50% Alpine. How much does this little girl weigh, and how much milk is she getting per day? I have tried twice going to wait for the hubby to get home to try again. And Valbazen drench? And I had a kid born that was weak at birth, so I was bottle-feeding it, and it never gained more than a few ounces and died close to a week of age. They pick up things in their mouths to explore the world and eventually figure out whats good to eat and whats not. There are a few reasons why a doe may reject a kid. But since weve learned that mamas milk makes them healthier, and they grow faster, we now bottle feed for five or six months. A baby goat's primary source of nutrition should come from milk, be it straight from the dam, from a bottle, as a replacer, or even bottled cow milkmilk should be the priority here. Goat Bloat: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention - Backyard Goats At best, he may chew on the nipple. 5 pounds X 16 ounces = 80 ounces, so at 10%, they need a minimum of 8 ounces per day up to a max of 16 ounces per day. But you just dont know when it will happen with any specific kid that could be the next time you try, or it could be in five days. You need to weigh them anyway, if you are planning to bottle-feed so that you know how much milk they need. We give them 3 bottles a day but decided to cut down to twice a day (2 days ago). Its awesome that youve made such progress! They were inside for the first 3 days but now are outside together . The people I got her from were feeding 12 ounces of milk replacer 4 times daily. If he is five weeks old, he may have coccidiosis at this point, which is the reason for the diarrhea and he has coccidiosis because he is not getting enough milk so he is stressed, and his immune system just cant deal with the coccidia. She has very runny poop which concerns me also. Its been awhile since I raised LMs, but it would be a while before they needed that much milk. Because you can squeeze the bottle to get milk to drip out into the kids mouth, it is much easier to get a kid consuming milk when using one of these nipples and flexible bottles. Seeing visible worms in the poop would be tapeworms as they are the only ones that are visible to the naked eye. With so little information its impossible to make an educated guess. She is doing well on the bottle. I am now feeding him milk replacement. I watched the video a couple times. You can get a goat feed, such as Purina Goat Chow. It almost seems like that would be easier Kids will try to nurse off other does, but once a doe is a day or two past kidding, almost none will let another kid nurse from them. At what age should she be able to bite off grass and leaves? Hi Deborah! These are Lamanchas. We buy raw goats milk and are giving him some of that. As for mom accepting him that is anybodys guess. For a week, they acted like I was trying to poison them, and they didnt get much milk, which was of course very stressful. If a baby goat can't consume much in the . Were very concerned about her and were trying to make sure she has a shot, I will say she is doing so much better than she was doing in just the few days weve been caring for her. No. No one should pull a kid from mom after a week and sell it as a bottle baby. If these are your only goats, thats the problem. Hopefully the seller has agreed to castrate them for you at no charge when theyre a little older. I just started them both on probiotics yesterday and will give the one with diarrhea some electrolytes today. She didnt appear to reject any babies but Ive noticed I have one that is smaller than her three siblings. Texture has nothing to do with it. She gets around just fine. Goats usually do fine on whole cow milk or goat milk replacer, which are both priced about the same. First off, thank you for sharing all your insight and experience. Not if it was resistant to that antibiotic. Watch the video in the post above. Unfortunately, being around adults can expose them to coccidia without the antibodies in moms milk that would normally protect them unless the kid is getting raw milk from another goat in your herd. Bottle-Feeding Schedule For Baby Goats | Aibrean Nubians I do not want this kid to die and I know they can fade fast. It is not usually easy to get baby goats to switch to a bottle from mom. If its a third or fourth freshener, and you know shes a really good producer, she should be able to feed triplets, but Id be weighing them for two weeks to be sure. And I should have been more specific. (The bucks I have used are not related.) Again, thank you and I hope you and your family are well! Weigh them and do the math in the article to figure out exactly how much you need to be feeding them as they grow. I am separating at night and taking about half of her milk at a half gallon. Weight is much more important. For instance, there may be times when your doe may have more kids than she can take care of. Ive never bottle fed babies before and every post I read is something different. Shes taking the bottle well and eating the hay. If they dont get enough milk, they are more likely to have problems with worms and coccidiosis because they have very immature immune systems. When should you start bottle feeding a triplet? Its a way that a mother can provide her baby with antibodies while its own immune system is maturing. He will at least nurse for a short period so is getting a little milk. Even on the milk stand she was the most sensitive. You definitely want to milk the side the kid is not nursing on, or she will wind up very lopsided. I have a 1 wk old Nigerian dwarf who will not take to a bottle. She woke up at 6 and couldnt life her head. At about 2 months of age, babies usually take 4 to 5 ounces per feeding every 3 to 4 hours. When the kid tips their nose up to nurse that closes the esophageal groove so the milk goes into the second stomach, NOT the rumen. She does not have any other symptoms. The breeder who sold you the goats is either very uninformed or simply negligent. Some was soft and some was hard. All changes should be made gradually, so if you gave them a bottle of cow milk then next time a bottle of goat milk, that could have done it. She probably wont even suck if you just stick it in her mouth and let go. Milk is all about supply and demand, so if you quit milking or milk less, shell supply less. She lives in an octagon shaped playpen inside right now and can just about jump out of it. (Its 9pm now) my first question is, when will he poop and pee? Feeding orphaned foals - Extension at the University of Minnesota Hopefully this worked out for you. Once their bodies are back in good condition, then a common rule of thumb is to give 1 pound of grain for every 3-5 pounds of milk as needed to help dairy goats maintain peak health. They are about 3 weeks old and still feeding from mom. Thank you for such an informative site! For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day. She is usually kicking the babies off her. There are no wild goats in the US, so Im not sure what you found. Triplets born this am. Diarrhea (aka scours) is a symptom of a problem and should not be ignored, typically it is caused by over feeding though it may also be caused by switching type or consistency (not enough water) in milk replacer, prevent dehydration by using pedialyte instead of water in the next bottle and resolve diarrhea by reducing the # of ounces you are giving at each feeding, dont forget to deworm your kids at 4-5 weeks old and to treat for coccidia around 6-8 weeks old (coccidia needs a repeat treatment 14 days after intial treatment). Any suggestions about more controlled labor saving approaches? Once kids are a couple of weeks old, most does do not stand around for five minutes like they did when the kids were newborns. Itll probably take a couple of weeks. At this point, she has to make up for lost time. It it totally normal for you to wind up with milk all over yourself. Any advice would be great. For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, which is what most breeders did back then, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day. His temp has been back up for at least 2 days but still doesnt want anything to do with the bottle to the point of thrashing about. Without moms antibodies in fresh goat milk, the kids will be more likely to have problems with worms and coccidia, which is why some people use medicated milk replacer, which helps prevent coccidiosis. We tried to put the baby out with her and she wasnt having it. If their mouth is ice cold when you stick your finger in there, then they have hypothermia, and they cant suck or digest colostrum, so you have to get them warmed up. In the meantime, you just have to do whatever is needed to get enough milk into him. Unless the smaller one had an undiagnosed case of parasites, the problem was quite likely the lambar combined with not enough milk for two kids to thrive. Question ? Milk replacer will be your goat kid's primary source of nutrition until weaning. 1 cup buttermilk. So divide the amount of milk from that 4th bottle into the 3 feedings. One of the hardest things to do when you have a goat in this situation is to get her to start eating. So when I go from 3 bottles a day at about 11 ounces each down to two bottles a day, they are still 11 ounce each. Bottle Feeding 101 - Goat Spots I have a two 6 week old doelings. If youre giving the treatment dosage for two weeks, youre going to wind up with a thiamine-deficient goat. So, I slacked off milking and she got really engorged. How many times you need to give milk to a baby goat in one day? Her mamma and 3 other goats had babies at the same time and they got mixed up so the mammas rejected all of them I got her to help well shes been doing well but refuses to eat any kind of feed. If youve been reading comments, you know how hard it is to get kids to take a bottle if theyve been nursing from mom. Final dose today. Was already giving an antibiotic for the pneumonia so if it was bacterial wouldnt that of handled it! I have been feeding them every 3 to 4 hours, does that sound good? Thank you again for your article. Using milk replacer and dried colostrum powder, which only says mix one teaspoon with milk. I mixed 1 tsp with 4 oz milk replacer. Usually they dont live this long with such a small weight gain. Dam raised kids should NOT be taken from mom until they are at least 2 months old. We try and feed her at least every 2-4 hours because she doesnt drink much and we want her to be eating enough, but she really doesnt seem hungry but every 4 hours. If you squeeze the bottle, it will drip out. Going to try a baby bottle now, but thinking its a texture issue. I really hate to put him down if there is any chance for him. Today they refused to have more than 2/5 ounces at each feeding. Here is my Beginners Guide to Goats where you can find lots more info as you get started We continue three bottles per day at 11 ounces each until they are about 6 weeks old. I have Nigerians who weigh 25 pounds at 10 weeks, and they are less than half the size of a Saanen when full grown, so that early bout of diarrhea definitely took its toll on him and slowed down his growth. Newborn kid goat care and management On our way home he pooped some more. From what Ive read in this thread he is hopefully just being very stubborn with the bottle and stressed from environment change. And I also weigh all of the kids daily for the first two weeks. They have lost weight and just seem kind of bummed out. Personally I bottle-feed until they are about 4 months old because I find they are healthier. They could wind up starving if they dont get the hang of it, and you never know at what point the mom will no longer accept them back. As soon as possible. She did okay with mamma for the first 12 hours but was showing deterioration and weight loss (when other siblings were all gaining weight). Not every doe has the personality to nurse four. We have one that is taking the bottle very well and the other one just holds it in his mouth! You really need to weigh her and then follow the guidelines in the articles as far as amount goes. It takes them about 2 minutes to suck down their whole bottle, and using and cleaning a lambar takes time. Remember that they only need 20% of their body weight, and the 3L would be where you max out. Its not unusual for kids to want more milk that they can safely consume just as adults will eat so much grain that it can make them sick and even kill them. We are new to goats and have two bottle babies, roughly 1-2 weeks old. Plus I dont know how youd get another one. One of the girls is timid and is becoming more nervous after each attempt to feed. How am I able to tell if my goat is sick? Would you expect it to be the change in the amount or something else causing diarrhea? Check out Raising Baby Goats: Essential Tips for Success. They do NOT cause anemia at all. If you do not, we recommend whole cow's milk. What you describe is no surprise if he is nursing. Well, it turned into her walking around the pen while I was trying to milk her and me crawling around on my knees. They have been eating great. "It's important to know if any does in your herd have caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) or Johne's disease," says Olson. If you cant milk her, and there are no other kids, then you can just let her dry up. And its easier than going out to the barn to give a bottle at night. 10) of breeding Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarfs this is my first bottle baby. A kid may be born too small or weak to be able to nurse. When temperatures get below about 45 degrees, she starts shivering. Sounds like you havent read the links I provided because your questions are answered in them. Livestock Treats Shop All. She tries but they seem to slip through the gap between the teeth and plate. She sucks her bottles down in under a minute. The 1.5lb doeling isnt able to compete with the other two and isnt getting enough to eat. 5 oz then 8 oz then about 16 oz! If your goats are on pasture and pooping out worm eggs, then those eggs will hatch, and the goats will just reinfect themselves with more larvae. And I agree that the more he nurses, the less milk for the other three, so getting him 100% bottlefed is a good idea. I once had an experienced doe reject both kids at birth and then I realized she was really sick. Second question, how big should she be before putting her out with the other goats? Is there anything extra I can give him? I see that you have fed them for 5 to 6 months. A few kids may drink milk from a bowl, but thats also pretty rare. The other is enthusiastic about the bottle, but not nearly as successful. At less than two weeks two of them weighed 11 lbs and one 13 lbs. Im really curious what you have because a mountain goat is not a goat. Will they let it nurse? She kicked and screamed and carried on for about 2 days. I dont know anyone who has ever wound up with thiamine deficiency giving the treatment dosage for five days. He probably had too much milk in one bottle. Multiple Goat feeding - Learn Natural Farming. Just because hes acting bucky doesnt mean he can get the doe pregnant or that she is even in heat but it makes people nervous. I got two bottle babys today. Days 21 - weaning. After checking on them a couple of times he was always by himself and she didnt seem so have much to do with him. In the meantime, you use the mathematical formulas above to be sure they getting enough milk in 24 hours. Nothing on this planet survives at 1000 degrees. Any feedback is so greatly appreciated. Long story short is we took her to the vet and he gave her a shot of Braxxin, Vit B and we are giving daily probios for the last 4 days she has pneumonia and joint ill. She would not suckle for the first 2 days so I had to tube feed her and I have given her mommas colostrum/milk ever since she was born. She definitely has milk. Up until this point he had been pooping fine. Typically youd mix them before switching completely to the new milk. Theyre just over 2 weeks old. She was very large and we induced her 4 days before her due-date. Hopefully your babies are taking more milk now. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/. Like from the table above a day old baby goat should consume 10% of milk in respect to it body size per . Some kids will happily take a bottle while still with mom, but not all. This is a heard we recently inherited, and they are not tame enough for us to approach them quite yet, much less try and milk any of them. Im feeding them 8 ounces of mixture of goats milk and formula twice a day. He was nursing from mom when I bought him. I have two Nigeran Dwarf goats that are a little over 9 weeks old. It just takes patience and time. Thank you so much! I really think the reason some kids die on milk replacer is because of human error. If shell take more, thats great. 2 with my 3 yr old (2nd kidding) and 1 from my first freshener. Great job! You dont need to change anything about the feedings. If they still have diarrhea, cut back to 6 ounces. Really excited but also a little scared. If its an Alpine or Boer, it is going to weigh two or three times as much. One had 5 and the other had 1, and it was a piece of cake to convince both mamas that they should let all the kids nurse from them. Shes looking normal again. I am guessing she doesnt like the way the kids nurse. He was 1 of triplets. And sometimes you just have bad genetics, and they dont have great production. Take the gallon of milk, and pour out about 1/3 and set it aside. What you got for the first few days was not milk, but colostrum, so you should freeze it, and label it with the date and age of colostrum, as the earlier colostrum (24 hours) is more concentrated. Here is more on what goats eat: (Nanny died after 24 hours-vet said infection-very sad to lose a favorite goat!!) My question is this; in taking him to the pasture will he learn to eat by watching the other goats? Hes 2 days old now. What can we give baby goat other than milk or with milk ? 1 gallon whole milk If it continues, check out this post on diarrhea in goats. They learn drinking from a bucket and eating solids food by copying other goats, so its not unusual for them to start eating and drinking later when they are bottle-fed. If you do not mix it up with the correct amount of water, a kid can wind up with an intestinal blockage. Do NOT give too much milk at one feeding. Its tough for a doe to successfully raise four kids. They can eat as much hay as they want, as well as pasture. I have frozen goats milk from the previous year. Do you mind if I share the amounts of colostrum needed with a link to this article on my blog? Shes playing and cuddling with her simblings and Mom is very sweet and attentive. If a kid is nursing incorrectly without the tongue covering the lower teeth, that will hurt the doe, and she will understandably not want the kid to nurse because it hurts. Measurements are not exact as Im using a seltzer bottle with a nipple on top. Would I picture help identify what breed goat they are? You really need to weigh him so that you will have a good idea of how much he weighs so that you dont overfeed or underfeed him. I believe they each weigh about 20 pounds Ill have to check their weight more accurately. They can get very depressed and stop eating without other caprine companionship. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated by me and my kids. My Doe had quads, and they are all doing great, but the runt is only 1 lb. Start out at 10% of body weight. If the kids are staying here, and we have the milk, we keep feeding them the two bottles a day until my husband goes back to school (teaching) in the fall, and then drop back to only the morning bottle. I really appreciate it! She is lying on her side randomly kicking. If it does, it ferments like everything else in the rumen, and it can make them sick. For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, which is what most breeders did back then, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day. 2 tbs. Here is info from my goat group about how to start milking a doe when she is feeding two or more kids Her kid only nurses off of one side. If the birth is traumatic for a first time mom, they may reject the kids completely even if they are never separated. We have bottle raised her and her sister since birth after they were rejected. Also, how should I be able to tell if I need to take newborns inside? Thanks! (Privacy Policy) *, [optin-monster-shortcode id=hxluox9yesmfda3ovt6w], 2023, Countryside - All Rights Reserved. A traumatic birth can cause a doe to reject kids. Im a little worried hes only gained 5oz. I didnt know i shoukd NOT bottle feed my baby goathe has had two weeks of bad diarhea , and didnt give him milk so I gave him water and gaideraid, then we changed to homo milk and 2 days later all better But I have still been giving him lots of water in a bottle and his urine is red today for the first time. Our supply is running low. Ive never had a kid get diarrhea when changing milks, but I usually do it gradually by mixing the new milk first, gradually increase the proportion of new milk. Both female (yay! Thank you so much. How do I know you answer me so I have to go on this site each day to check to see if you have answer or do you email ..if so my email is gras32@aol.com..thank you. There are no benefits to weaning, especially when kids weigh only 20 pounds. Should I assume these two are abandoned if a mother has not been around either of them for a while? There is always the risk of premature kids also because plenty of humans have miscalculated due dates or forgotten to write down a second breeding when the first one didnt take. The b complex high potentcy/ thiamine is for the first 3 days only. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. They suckle only a few seconds it seems and quit. She is a Nigerian and Id say between 15 and 20 lbs right now so Ill follow those recommendations. Regular milk can be pasteurized at 161 degrees F for 30 seconds. When I have had a doe do so, she is pretty much always standing and letting kids nurse every time I see her. Did bloodwork (everything was normal) and another fecal. Thats from a 1960s human baby formula because human milk is actually very high in lactose, so they were trying to duplicate human milk. If it is getting milk replacer, then coccidiosis is a risk, and many people switch to medicated at 3 weeks of age. Is this normal? Runny poop is not necessarily a bad thing, although you usually see it when kids are getting too much milk. They learn by watching other goats. I will weigh him tomorrow. Milk replacer is fine as long as you dilute it correctly and use enough water. We gave them 2cc of pepto bismol today in an effort to ease the diarrhea along with their 3rd dose of Albon. I need to know how much milk and how many times a day she should be fed. First time owner. We are getting our first goats ! Mom rejected them immediately due to the extreme pain of the birth and it took her days to function. You need to know exactly what they weigh. Id suggest taking him out to her when its time for another bottle and see how he nurses. There isnt anything you can do to make them eat. Tammy. If that was the only kid, you may want to milk the mom and use her milk to feed the kid. When calculating, remember to convert pounds to ounces. The amount youre giving would be fine for small breeds like Nigerians but not enough for standard goats or meat breeds. Here are my questions: Thats just crazy! The breeder pulled him and I took him. I dont normally recommend MannaPro for breeding animals, but you didnt say if they were wethers or not. They are now four months old and Im still feeding them 28 ounce bottles a day. In fact, if you do the math on the 5-day treatment (NOT 21 days) for DILUTED Corid, it says 1 ounce per 100 pounds, which would be 30 cc per 100 pounds, so a 5# kid would get 1.5 cc. They are imitating their mom. If I dont have access to raw goat milk what would you use ? One of our girls had to have her kid pulled today. The only way Ive been able to get anything in him is with an eye dropper. Accidentally came across your blog, question & answers. Just as you would not give any goat or human an antibiotic unless it was sick, you should NOT give a dewormer unless a goat is sick. and the total ration being fed. If some does have kids die at birth, theyll accept any kids that try to nurse off of them for several days after birth while their hormones are still raging. Goat-Link.com - Bottle Feeding Baby Goats each feeding per day. I have been milking as well (retaining the milk for bottle feeding the goats for now) but Im already seeing a big decline in milk & was wanting to separate the kids, A doe cannot make enough milk to feed three kids AND you for the first couple of months. They have been fighters! I dont want to burst his little belly or damage his system. She will be VERY unhappy when shes outside alone, and you cant keep her in your house forever. I am still tying her up multiple times a day so I can monitor their milk intake and make sure the little girl gets fed. Feed milk replacer by bottle or pail three times per day from two to 10 days of age. In any case, you should not see diarrhea from a non-infectious cause for more than one or two poops. It is not that unusual to have one of multiples that is half the size of others. They need to cuddle up with others to stay warm. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/what-do-goats-eat-it-depends/. I tried testing her to see if she was giving any milk and got nothing . Were also doing probios. Anyone would just be guessing without a fecal for a proper diagnosis. The girls are energetic, curious and eating dirt and now munching on haylike normal. They were eating a lot of grass even though its been rainy and the grass is wet. Thank you for all your help. Its kind of sad! Prepare Milk in a Baby Bottle. At birth, Boer goat kids usually weigh between 5 to 9 pounds (2.3 to 4.1 kilograms) on average. He has now started taking 2-4 oz at each feeding without being forced.